Morgan State and Prairie View A&M are among 10 historically Black colleges and universities selected to take part in a three-year research project pertaining to STEM education, with the ultimate goal of improving STEM capacity among African Americans and other under-represented students.

Through a $1.5 million grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust, the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions is awarding ten $50,000 grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities to bolster STEM capacity. In addition, the 10 HBCUs will participate in a three-year research project pertaining to STEM education, with the ultimate goal of improving STEM capacity among African Americans and other under-represented students.

Applicant institutions hailed from 12 different states and varied in institutional control (i.e. public vs. private), religious affiliation, and enrollment size. Moreover, they each presented several practices and programs that have improved studentsí achievements in STEM. The selection process included several rounds of deliberation between the co-principal investigators, as well as some members of the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions Advisory Board.

First, applicants needed to demonstrate strong, empirical evidence that their practice or program had a substantial and positive influence on student achievement in STEM gateway courses. Second, applicants had to present a feasible and compelling project for the capacity building grant. The most innovative projects progressed to the final round. And third, the selection team took into account variation across the STEM disciplines.

HBCUs receiving $50,000 STEM capacity building grants include:

North Carolina Central University
Morgan State University
Huston-Tillotson University
Prairie View A&M University
Lincoln University
Dillard University
Delaware State University
Cheyney University
Claflin University
Xavier University of Louisiana

Marybeth Gasman, professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) serves as the principal investigator of this project. Thai-Huy Nguyen, research assistant at the Penn CMSI and Ph.D. student serves as the co-principal investigator.